Found
by The ShadowEye
Summary: It was a long journey between finding him and being able to keep him.
1. Chapter 1: Shocked

**Edit: I apologize for the bad editing. I did proofread it, but obviously a couple words slipped. That was under my usual standard, and I've re-edited in hopes of having a cleaner chapter.**

 **It's finally done (except the epilogue). I've been working on this for about two months, so to finally be able to publish it is a relief.**

 **I have everything written (except the epilogue, which is half-done), so anyone who doesn't trust me after stopping mid-story the last two times I tried a chapter story can relax. This story will be published all the way through.**

 **The story is six chapters, divided into two parts, with an epilogue at the end. This first part takes place after _Sea of Monster,_ and the second will be from after _The Titan's Curse_ to the beginning of _The Battle of Labyrinth._ The epilogue will take place at the end of _The Battle of Labyrinth._**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own anything under Rick Riordan's name. So pretty much everything in this story.**

 **Enjoy!**

 **Part 1**

 **Chapter 1: Shocked**

Clarisse found him injured and muttering nonsense in front of the playground three blocks down in the middle of the night.

She had been taking a walk, clearing her mind of one of those annoying demigod dreams, when she had noticed a figured slumped against one of the posts of the playground. Recognizing an injury even from a few yards off, she had ran over to help while cursing the fact she didn't have a phone to call for help.

She only recognized him when she was face-to-face with him, and that was a miracle considering his face was grimy, dirty, and scraped up.

But then again how could she not?

"Chris?" Charisse asked. "Are you okay?" Chris's eyes wouldn't focus on her, and he only responded with a mumble.

He had one hand on a stomach wound, the other on the opposite shoulder. His hair was sticking in every direction, and armor was bent and smeared with... something. All in all, he was in very bad shape. _Stupid, stupid, stupid_ , Clarisse thought. _Why didn't you bring your bag?_

"Chris, can you see me?" Clarisse asked again, waving her hand over Chris's eyes. No response. Shock? Something more?

Clarisse shook Chris's shoulder, but he didn't respond, so she moved on to his wounds. Carefully removing his hand, she inspected the stomach wound. It was a stab wound - nothing Clarisse hadn't seen a million times before. She replaced his hand and pushed it a little, hoping Chris could still apply pressure to the wound. When he did, she moved to the shoulder wound. This time it was claw marks.

Both wounds needed treatment and soon. Clarisse lightly pulled on Chris's arm, hoping that he could still stand. And too her surprise, he looked at her.

"Mary?"

"What?"

"Is that you?"

"It's Clarisse. Chris, can you stand up?"

"Mary? There was a trap, Mary. Don't go."

"Chris?" Clarisse shook his shoulder as his mumbling became more and more incoherent. "Chris, can you stand up?"

"It's dark. So dark."

"It's nighttime. Can you stand up?"

* * *

Clarisse didn't know how, but eventually she got Chris up and walking.

Her house was close, and it wasn't long before she was digging a key out of the welcome mat (it's cliche and obvious, but her mom was always paranoid that she would come home during a quest injured and find an empty house). Clarisse led Chris into the house and into the guest room on the first floor, where she helped him remove his armor and forced him to lay down on the bed before going to find medical supplies.

When she returned, Chris had wondered into the kitchen and was staring dumbfounded at the sink.

"Chris?"

"String. We need to find the string."

"If you say so. Now please let me treat your wounds."

During the time Clarisse cleaned and treated Chris's wounds, he had tried to wonder off twice, punched her in the jaw once in a panic, and had muttered enough absolute nonsense for Clarisse to actually begin to make sense out of it.

Chris and another demigod named Mary, who Clarisse thought she remembered from the Apollo cabin, had been traveling through some sort of maze (please don't let it be _the_ labyrinth, camp had enough problems as is) when they had been separated somwhoq. Chris had found his way out through an old abandoned house near the playground Clarisse had found him at, and was apparently looking for string. What happened to Mary, Clarisse had no clue, but she felt bad for her. She had been a tough demigod and good capture-the-flag ally before she turned.

Eventually Chris fell asleep, and Clarisse passed the time by doing damage control on his armor.

* * *

"Oh Iris, goddess of the rainbow, show me Chiron at camp half blood." Clarisse chanted, throwing her drachma through the rainbow.

She was in her yard, with her hose set up to make a rainbow. Like every backyard in this area, hers was fenced in so she didn't have to worry about pesky neighbors. No one would be seeing a hologram of a centaur floating in the mist.

"Clarisse!" Chiron exclaimed when she appeared. "Everything going good at home?" He was in the big house, playing a one-person card game. The clock behind him showed three o'clock, though it was still eleven in Arizona.

Clarisse really hated time zones.

"I need your help with something." Clarisse replied.

"Yes?"

"Last night I was taking a walk when I found a demigod - Chris Rodriguez - injured on the side of the road. He's resting now, but he's badly injured and seems to be in some kind of shock."

"Chris Rodriguez. Is he not one of Luke's followers?" Clarisse nodded. "Do you have any idea what he was doing in Phoenix?"

"He was navigating some... maze when I think he got into a fight. He has a stab wound on his stomach and claw marks on his shoulder, and he he was unarmed."

"Do you know anything about this maze he was navigating?"

"It's full of traps, and monsters and rogue demigods. And he was talking about a string." Chiron's eyes widened. "Don't tell me it's the Labyrinth."

"I'm afraid that's what it sounds like." Clarisse cursed. "I'll see if Annabeth can come help you. I'm sure she has plenty theories about the labyrinth. As for now, just watch Chris and try to nurse him back to health. Hopefully the shock will wear off."

* * *

"String. We need to find the string." Chris mumbled, ignoring the plate of food Clarisse put out for him.

"You need to eat." Clarisse repeated. "Please, Chris."

"The string, Mary. We said we'd find the string."

"Eat, Chris. Please." Clarisse's mom gave her a look of pity. Chris's injuries were mostly healed, but it he was still acting...

Well, he was acting insane.

The doorbell rang, and Chris jumped out of his seat. Clarisse reached for his arm in an attempt to calm him while her mom went to see who it was.

"It's alright," Clarisse told him, "It's just the doorbell."

"No. No." Chris muttered. "Don't go, Mary. It's a trap! It will kill you!"

"Chris, I'm not going anywhere." Clarisse promised.

"Clarisse it's a friend of yours at the door." Her mom called.

"Who is it?" Clarisse called back.

"It's Annabeth." The guest called from the door. _Well, that was fast,_ Clarisse thought.

"Let her in." The door swung shut, and a few minutes Annabeth and Clarisse's mother reappeared in the dining area.

"It's so hot outside," Annabeth stated. "How do you live here?"

"It's August. It's hot everywhere." Clarisse responded. "Did Chiron brief you?"

"Yes. Are we really dealing with _the_ Labyrinth here?"

"Yep."

 **To Be Continued...**


	2. Chapter 2: Lost

**Hello! Here it is: the second chapter.**

 **I hope you enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own what I do not own. Which is pretty much everything in this story except for the plot.**

The house was abandoned, despite it being in top shape and identical with every other occupied house on the street. Clarisse had already figured the house had some weird mythology connected to it, and had even investigated several times when she was younger.

"This is it?" Annabeth asked. She was dressed in her armor, despite the heat. Clarisse was used to it, but Annabeth was no doubt dying under the hot sun. She was definitely sweating a lot.

"Yep." Clarisse marched up the pathway and kicked the door in. She grabbed her spear and hoisted it as she entered. Behind her she heard Annabeth draw her knife.

The first floor was clear of anything mythical. No monsters or killer maze entrances.

"Basement would be the best bet." Annabeth stated.

"Houses here don't have basements," Clarisse replied. "Let's check the yard."

Clarisse investigated the empty pool while Annabeth checked the fence. Both came up with nothing.

"Upstairs?" Annabeth suggested.

"Can't be anywhere else, can it?"

Annabeth checked the railing while Clarisse ran her fingers over the wall, looking for anything that said "secret door", and when they got up stairs they split.  
Clarisse was already in the master bedroom when Annabeth found something on the railing at the top of the stairs.

"What is it?" Clarisse asked, running up next to her.

"This post, it's different from the rest." Annabeth stated. "It almost looks like a lever."

"So pull it.

Annabeth jerked the post back, something shrieked, and floor beneath them rumbled. The railing opened up as a flight of stairs unraveled. Downstairs the carpeted floor separated and more stairs were coming up to meet the descending flight.

"So wait, we have to go up a flight of stairs to go down a flight of stairs? That's stupid."

"It's supposed to be hard to find. Not many people would go upstairs to get to the basement, would they?"

"No. Because it's stupid."

"Exactly. No one would expect a genius to do something so redundant. The genius is in the stupidity."

* * *

The Labyrinth was the definition of dark and creepy, even though it was well-lit and not at all old-looking.

"We probably shouldn't travel too far," Annabeth stated. "We don't want to get lost."

"The Phoenix area is pretty big." Clarisse stated.

"This is The Labyrinth we're talking about. Real dimensions might not even matter."

"Worst comes to worst we can just turn back the way we-" Clarisse took a step forward, but her foot didn't find any floor to land on and, with a curse, she flew forward into a pit of nothing. When she did land, she instinctively rolled and managed to stand up with her.

"Clari-ah!" And a second later, Annabeth landed next to Clarisse.

"So much for going back the way we came." Clarisse mumbled.

"It's like we're in a whole different tunnel," Annabeth observed. Clarisse looked around and couldn't help but agree.

Before, the tunnel had felt like every house in the neighborhood - cream walls and tile floors. She hadn't really paid any attention because it felt so normal. Now it was something foreign-looking in Phoenix - wooden walls and dirt floors. The cliff they had just fallen from was covered in moss. Even the air smelled woodsy.

"Well, there's only one way to go from here," Clarisse stated, and they trudged forward.

* * *

Immediately the walls forked.

"Now what?"

"The left way looks more like the Phoenix architecture - that's our best bet."

* * *

"I'm pretty sure that frost means we're far from Arizona."

"It's trying to trick us."

"If it's trying to trick us, how do you know we're going in the right direction?"

"Logic."

"But isn't logic what got us lost in the first place?"

* * *

"House fire," Annabeth observed, wrinkling her nose. "That happens more in the New England area, since there are more old houses."

Clarisse didn't bother commenting this time. They had been walking now for what felt like weeks, had already fought ten monsters, and she was hungry.

Annabeth was tracing the wall with her hand, looking for something to signify and exit. Clarisse was doing the same with the other wall.

"I wonder how long we've been gone." Clarisse muttered. "I hope Chris is okay."

"He'll be fine. I just hope your mom didn't call an amber alert or something."

Something bumped underneath Clarisse's hand.

"I think I found something."

* * *

"The Hades are we?" Clarisse asked, looking around.

"The basement of... somewhere," Annabeth replied. "Looks like a hotel."

"It smells like salt and bird droppings."

"We must be near a beach. I think I can hear the ocean."

"Great. There should be food here."

* * *

They had ended up in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

After a quick call to Chiron, they reserved a room in the hotel they had come up in (demigods had a network for getting free hotel rooms). Argus would be driving down to pick them up soon, but the girls resolved to have a plan by the time he got there

What actually ended up happening was after grabbing a bite to eat out of a vending machine, they crashed on their beds and didn't wake up until Argus found them in the morning.


	3. Chapter 3: Stuck

**Hello!**

 **So next week is Valentine's day, and in honor of that I will be posting a sort of romantic oneshot each day of the week. The schedule will be as follows:**

 **Sunday: "She's Beauty, She's Grace" - _Merlin_**

 **Monday: "So You Think You're a Daughter of Aphrodite?" - _Percy Jackson,_ MalcolmxOC**

 **Tuesday: "The Girl Next Door" - _Harry Potter,_ DudleyxOC**

 **Wednesday:"Boredom" - _The Librarians,_ FlynnxEve**

 **Thursday:"Safe" - _Percy Jackson,_** **ChrisxClarisse**

 **Friday: "Promise Me" - _Merlin,_ PercivalxOC**

 **Saturday: "May I Have Your Attention?" - _Harry Potter,_ JamesxLily**

 **Anyways, here is chapter three, the end of part 1. Enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own anything I didn't own the last two disclaimers**

 **Chapter 3: Stuck**

"We should run a wrecking ball through the two entrances," Clarisse suggested. She, Annabeth, Mr. D, and Chiron were in the rec room of the big house at Camp Half-blood.

"I doubt that will work," Chiron replied. "The Labyrinth will take more than that to be defeated."

"Wouldn't hurt to try," Clarisse defended.

"We should at least try it with the house in Phoenix," Annabeth agreed. "The building isn't being put to use, so it's not like it would hurt. I doubt it will work but if it does, we'll know to do it to the hotel. I don't like the idea of a bunch of mortals sleeping on top of a Labyrinth entrance."

"Annabell does have a point," Mr. D stated.

"If it would make you feel better, we'll see about destroying the house," Chiron responded. "But we have more important things to worry about."

"Like what Luke wants with The Labyrinth," Annabeth added.

"To invade camp," Clarisse suggested. Chiron nodded.

"We need to find any Labyrinth entrances at camp," Chiron agreed.

"I'll send out a search party," Clarisse stated.

"Not yet," Chiron replied. "We don't want this getting out. It will only cause panic."

"We can search the camp," Annabeth offered. "And I'll ask around some of the older campers if they've found anything. I think the Stolls know every inch of camp by now."

"The nymphs might know something," Clarisse suggested.

"Doubt it," Mr. D answered. "They hate caves in general. There's every chance someone entered the Labyrinth while polka dancing in a striped swimsuit, and they didn't notice because caves scare them so much. Same with the Satyrs."

"You don't think-" Chiron started.

"Ariadne does not know where the string is, has no wish to ever do anything regarding the Labyrinth again, and, if she did help, her only advice would be to hunt Daedalus down and smash him against a wall until the Labyrinth crumbles." Mr. D finished.

"You say that like Daedalus is still alive," Annabeth observed. Mr. D shrugged.

"There are rumors in some circles that he is," Chiron explained. "If he is, he is vital to our mission. We must find him as soon as possible."

"So find entrance and find Daedalus," Clarisse summarized. "Sounds simple."

"Daedalus is very bitter, if he's still alive," Mr. D contributed. "Good luck getting him to help."

"You sound like you know him personally," Chiron observed.

"Ariadne likes to complain about him."

"We can also be looking for the string," Annabeth suggested. "If we find that, Luke will have no way of navigating his way through the maze."

"Except if Daedalus builds him another," Mr D pointed out.

"Would any string work?" Clarisse asked. She had been around long enough to know that, no, it wouldn't, but she wanted a reason why.

"The string itself has no actual magic," Chiron answered. "The reason it works so well now is all the legends that have been attached to it. As for how it worked in the beginning, only Daedalus knows. Even Ariadne says she doesn't know."

"So we need to find the original string as well. Sounds like a plan."

* * *

"What are we looking for?" Clarisse asked.

"A delta," Annabeth replied. "It looks like an L."

"I know what a delta is."

The two of them were walking around the forest at camp, looking for where the Labyrinth entrance might be. So far they had found zilch.

"What about the cabins?" Clarisse asked.

"That's a possibility. There's also the training grounds to consider, the big house, the pavilion, and Cabin 9's secret tunnel-way."

"That's a lot of grounds to cover."

"It's a big camp. But I'm betting the entrance is in the forest, since that's the biggest area and it's hardest to map."

"We're going to be doing this all month."

"Probably."

* * *

"We checked everywhere," Annabeth reported. "And didn't find anything."

"Nothing?" Chiron asked.

"No," Annabeth restated. "There's nothing that suggests an entrance on camp."

"Interesting," Chiron commented. "That doesn't explain why Luke is so interested in the Labyrinth."

"Maybe he's looking for an entrance as well." Clarisse commented.

"If there was an entrance, Luke would know it." Annabeth stated. "He knew everything about camp."

"I fear that Annabeth might be right," Chiron agreed. "And if he didn't I'm sure one of his followers would."

"Maybe there's not an entrance at camp," Clarisse suggested.

"Then why the interest?" Annabeth wondered.

"It's obvious that entrance or not we won't be able to find it," Chiron stated. "Perhaps we should turn our focus towards more important matters."

"My mom found someone to run a wrecking ball through that house," Clarisse commented.

"Perhaps you two should go back to Arizona and see what you can do about that entrance." Chiron suggested.

* * *

About a week later, they found themselves in the back of Ms. La Rue's truck.

"Thank you for picking us up." Annabeth stated.

"Don't worry about it," Ms. La Rue stated. "What's you girls' plan?"

"We're going to see what has what effects on the entrance we found, and come up with a plan for if we find an entrance at camp." Annabeth explained.

"And if it doesn't affect it at all?"

"Then we come up with another plan."

* * *

"Looks like we'll be coming up with another plan," Annabeth said, looking at the newfound entrance. The entire house behind them was in ruins, but the entrance just moved to the empty pool.

* * *

"So now what?" Annabeth asked.

"Nothing, I'm afraid," Chiron answered. "There isn't anything we can do right now."

"But keep looking," Clarisse added.

"Not even that," Chiron replied. "I believe that Chris needs your attention right now, Clarisse. As for you, Annabeth, you should be heading out to school. And prepare yourself - I have word of two very powerful demigods in Maine, and Grover will need your help with them."

"Are you sure this is all we can do?" Annabeth questioned.

"Yes, my dear, it is. For now."


	4. Chapter 4: Help

**If you haven't seen it already, I have a sort-of epilogue to this story already published called "Safe", so make sure you check it out!**

 **This part of the story takes place between _The Titan's Curse_ and _The Battle of the Labyrinth._**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own _Percy Jackson and the Olympians._**

 **Part 2**

 **Chapter 4: Help**

"Chris, please try to remember. I'm Clarisse, not Mary."

Over the past couple of months Clarisse had been nursing Chris back to health. Physically, he had improved tremendously, but mentally there was still no progress.

"Mary, the son of Poseidon! He will make you fight and you'll lose! Mary please!"

"Chris, there are no sons of Poseidon here."

"Don't! Please!"

"Clarisse?" Clarisse's mom had appeared in the doorway, phone in hand.

"Yes?"

"I just got a call from Chiron. You need to IM him."

"I will."

"Now."

Clarisse looked at Chris, who was curled up in the corner and back at her mom. She looked worried, but Chris shouldn't be left alone for long.

"Now." Her mom repeated.

* * *

"Oh Iris, goddess of the rainbow, show me Chiron at Camp Half-blood." Clarisse tossed the drachma in, and the image of Chiron and Annabeth talking in the Big House appeared.

"Clarisse," Chiron said, cutting Annabeth off from whatever she was rambling about.

"What do you want?" Clarisse asked gruffly.

"Mr. D has been 'called back' to Olympus," Annabeth said. "By either Zeus or Ariadne."

"Ariadne? You think Luke is getting closer to the Labyrinth?"

"It would appear so," Chiron confirmed.

"What would you have us do?" Clarisse questioned.

"I'm thinking we need to do a search of the Manhattan area. Also, you need to start preparing your cabin for a fight."

"And Chris?"

"We should move him to camp. Maybe we can help him better here."

"How? People are going to notice if I bring him on a plane."

"I have sent Argus to fetch you two. It will be several days before he gets there."

"And until then?"

"Keep your eyes open."

* * *

Doing a several day car trip stunk when hotels weren't an option, and Clarisse was glad when they pulled up at camp.

Two daughters of Apollo helped set up a room for Chris in the basement of the Big House while Clarisse took her stuff back to her cabin.

"I'm back," Clarisse barked at her siblings as she opened the door. Mark, her second-in-command, gave her a quick briefing of everything that had happened while she was gone.

"Do I look like I care?" Clarisse asked when he started talking about the Aphrodite head counselor, Silena Beauregard. "Because I don't. Stop drooling over some Barbie doll."

"I'm not drooling over no one." Mark grunted.

"You better not be. Now, don't expect me to be doing much here, Chiron had me on an important assignment. And tell the rest of the cabin that we might have a battle coming up and to start training like it."

* * *

"So, did that thing with Grover ever happen?" Clarisse asked as she and Annabeth walked down Manhattan, looking for a Labyrinth entrance.

"Yeah. Two siblings - a girl and a boy."

"Have they been claimed yet?"

"No. The girl joined the hunters and, well, died. First death of the war. The boy ran away."

"Oh." First death of the war. This is getting serious. "How'd she die?"

"Apparently she annoyed one of Hephaestus's inventions while on a quest."

"Oh." And the silence resumed.

"Want a pizza?" Annabeth asked.

"What?"

"A pizza. I didn't have lunch and Percy said there was a really good around here."

* * *

"Nothing close enough to benefit Luke," Annabeth reported back to Chiron.

"That just confirms that there's something here on cam- and who would you be?" Both girls turned around to find a stranger lurking in the doorway.

"Quintus. I'm a demigod, and I was told you needed help running camp." Annabeth and Clarisse exchanged curious glances.

A demigod that old?

"And who might have you heard this information from?" Chiron questioned.

"An old friend," Quintus stated.

"And you've never been to camp?" Chiron asked. Quietus shook his head. "Well, I must say you've done a good job surviving on your own."

"Thank you," Quintus replied. "I'm quite a good swordsman."

"Perhaps you'd like to teach sword fighting classes? Our previous instructor graduated from college last year and is now in Peru."

"That would be great," Quintus answered. "It will be a pleasure to work with you."

"May I find you a room to sleep in?" Chiron offered.

"That would be great." And with that, they left.

"That was odd," Annabeth commented.

"Could Luke have sent him?" Clarisse asked.

"Maybe. Or Ariadne. Chiron mentioned she was acting weird."

"She's the one with the string, right?" Clarisse questioned.

"Yep. In the original legends, Daedalus gave her the string to rescue her love, Theseus. Daedalus was eventually thrown into the Labyrinth as punishment."

"And Chiron thinks he's still alive."

"Appears so. Daedalus was a genius, he might have found a way to defeat death. If so, Hades probably has a high interest in him."

"What does the Hades does Hades have to do with this?"

"His s- nothing, actually. It was just a thought."

"So are we backing to searching camp?"

"Looks like it."

* * *

"How the Hades are we supposed to search every inch of a forest?" Clarisse wondered.

"We can't. But if we can find it we can prepare better." Annabeth replied.

"We should get Jackson here," Clarisse suggested. "He'll probably accidentally find it, though we might have to rescue him at the end of it." Annabeth chuckled.

"He'll probably get me stuck with - what is Quintus doing out here?" Annabeth whispered the last part, but the man in question seemed to hear her.

"Looking for you girls of course," he answered. "It's nearly dinner time, and you'll need to eat to keep up the search."

"Chiron told you what we're doing?" Clarisse questioned.

"No, but you're wondering out in the woods looking around, so the logical conclusion would be that you're searching for something." Quintus explained.

Clarisse gave a grunt in reply. Annabeth looked equally unimpressed.

* * *

"Dinner," Clarisse called, knocking softly on the doorframe while balancing a tray of food on her arm. Chris looked up from where he was sitting, recognition still far from his eyes.

"Mary?" He asked.

"No, Chris, it's me. Clarisse."

"No, y-you're an illusion, aren't you? One of the traps!"

"No, I'm not. Chris, please try to focus. You're safe."

"The string. We need to find the string. If we don't find the string he'll just keeping forcing us down there."

"Chris, you're not down there anymore."

"We'll die down here if we don't find it."

"You aren't going to die. You're safe, Chris, you don't have to be so scared anymore."

"Luke said that-"

"Luke isn't here, Chris. I am. And I'm trying to help you. Please, please let me." Clarisse gave him the tray of food. "Please eat something."


	5. Chapter 5: Dream

**I apologize for not updating for a couple of weeks. But there's only one more chapter after this, so it should be finished soon.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own anything that I did not create. All rights to the respective owners**

 **Enjoy!**

 **Chapter 5: Dream**

That night, Clarisse had one of her most vivid demigod dreams.

"You want us to do what now?" A boy, a couple years younger than Chris, asked. He and several other demigods, including Chris and a girl who Clarisse remembered to be Mary, were gathered in what looked like a nice hotel suit. They were dressed in a variety of styles, but they al had on breastplates and carried some sort of weapon.

Luke, dressed in slacks and a button-up, was standing in the front of the room, obviously giving some fancy announcement.

Clarisse felt a dying need to punch Luke hard in the face.

"Explore the Labyrinth. See if you can find Adriane's string, or some other way to navigate it. If we can get to the entrance at camp-"

"I thought you said we had a resource who was going to help us?" Mary questioned. She was sitting cross-legged in front of the bed, her long hair knotted into a bun. She twirled an arrow between her fingers. "Where is he?"

"His loyalties have been put into question. So for now we'll have to do it on our own. But you five are our best demigods in the entire army. If anyone could do it, you can."

"I thought you said the Labyrinth was unnavigable?" Chris said. He looked the most relaxed of the group. He was leaning against the wall, taking up most of the bed, with his sword on his lap. Minus the breastplate it looked like he was still in pajamas.

"Supposedly. But since when did you believe in impossible?"

"Since you asked us to go into a death maze," another demigod pointed out from the other bed.

"The Labyrinth is completely survivable. Theseus got out, remember?"

"With help!" The first demigod added.

"Yeah, and why are we separating? Wouldn't it be safer together?" Mary questioned.

"The more of you there are, the easier the Labyrinth will confuse you. Besides, you all can survive a couple of monsters on your own. I wouldn't have personally chosen you if I didn't think you could do it. Don't you trust me?" Luke put his hand on his chest and raised his eyebrows, as if he was the most trustworthy person in the room. Clarisse growled.

The dream changed, and now Chris and Luke stood alone at the top of a staircase. Chris was dressed in full armor, sword in hand, and Luke looked like he was from a school district with those stupid uniforms.

His pants were even creased.

"Come on, you can do it," Luke said gently. "I've seen you beat a lot harder stuff. You've always been one of my best fighters."

"Surely there are more experienced fighters," Chris argued. "Like Lou or-"

"Lou Ellen is very talented, I agree. But she's no you. It's you I have faith in. I know you won't disappoint me."

"You really think I can do this?"

"You, Chris, are the type of person who can do anything. This is nothing." Luke patted Chris on the shoulder, and Chris took a deep breath.

"I'm ready."

It shifted again, and now Chris was running through a stone corridor cursing a stream of words that impressed Clarisse.

His face was more scrapes than skin and it shone with sweat. He looked beaten, but he was still sprinting at a fast speed.

Clarisse couldn't see what was chasing him, but whatever it was had him terrified.

The images kept changing, and with each one Chris became more tired, more beaten, and more scared. But he kept going, and Clarisse found herself impressed as well as sad as she watched him battle on.

Mary appeared briefly, out of arrows and a nasty cut on the side of her arms. They instantly teamed up, and for a while Chris seemed to regain some strength.

Then the two were overwhelmed by a pack of hellhounds, and he watched her be torn apart. After that, there was no recovery.

* * *

Chris now slept fitfully, haunted by dreams.

Clarisse sat at the edge of his makeshift bed, watching him toss and turn. After that dream, she had needed to see him. Even his state now was better than what she had seen in her dreams.

Part of her wanted wake him up, free him from whatever nightmare he was having. But it had been more and more obvious lately that he wasn't sleeping and needed the rest, as restless as he seemed now. Besides, whatever haunted him now didn't go away when he was awake.

So Clarisse just watched him fight whatever monsters he saw in his dreams.

* * *

The dream she dreamed the night after was less horrifying and more confusing, and definitely more annoying.

It was what looked like a restaurant on Olympus. The walls were marble, and winds served the food. The drinks refilled by themselves, and Clarisse instantly recognized the sweet smell of nectar.

In the center of the magical restaurant was a couple Clarisse instantly recognized - her father, Ares, and his girlfriend Aphrodite. Just by that she knew she was going to hate the dream - she always did when those two showed up. Ares didn't really care what she did, but she had a feeling caring for a traitor wasn't something he liked. Aphrodite, on the other hand, constantly poked her powdered nose in other's business.

"He's a traitor," Ares stated, slamming his fist down on the table. His steak - looking suspiciously uncooked - jumped an inch above the table. "Clarisse should run her spear through him, not take care of him."

"Don't you see what's happening?" Aphrodite asked. She wasn't eating; instead, she was primping herself with a handheld mirror. She already was drop-dead gorgeous, with her hair done in a perfect bun and eyes that popped like shook-up soda, but obviously she didn't think so.

"He's getting off easy?"

"No. Why do you think I guided him to Arizona? So they can fall in love." Surprisingly, Aphrodite dropped her mirror a little while speaking.

"Clarisse wouldn't. She's like me, you know. Focused."

"And yet even you find yourself at the most romantic restaurant on Olympus."

"They serve good steak here."

"Mhm. My point is that love is a force beyond controlling."

"I thought you controlled love?"

"I meant for mortals. Clarisse is strong, but even she - even you aren't immune to my powers. Besides, she's Clarisse - do you really think a little romance is going to hurt? It's like you said: she's focused. A little sidetracking might even be good for her." And, as if she wasn't making life-changing voices for Clarisse's life, Aphrodite went right back to fixing her hair.


	6. Chapter 6: Found

**Here it is! The final chapter!**

 **I've already uploaded a sort-of epilogue called "Healed", so make sure to check that out.**

 **I'm working on a longer crossover story, so updates may lag until I'm finished with that. I have a couple of one-shots planned, but my main focus in the multi-chapter story.**

 **Enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer: Still don't own anything. All rights to their respective owners**

 **Chapter 6: Found**

"Of course you can't be here on time," Clarisse muttered. "Can you do anything on time?"

"I said I'm sorry," Percy argued. He had IM'd into the head counselor meeting to explain why he was going to be late, and obviously had gone out of his way to do so. But Clarisse didn't care - battles didn't wait for high school orientations.

"Clarisse," Chiron started. "Percy is allowed to have a regular life. As long as he's here as soon as he can be." Clarisse huffed - what was the big deal about "regular life"? Camp life was good enough for her.

"Why is this so important anyways?" Connor Stoll asked. "Haven't you done a bazillion of these?"

"Yes, but this is Paul's school and my mom-" Percy was cut off by an awe from Silena "- really wants to make a good impression."

"Just don't blow this school up," Lee Fletcher said. He was twirling an arrow between his fingers - does every child of Apollo have to do that?

"Not planning to."

"Did you plan the other ten or so times?" Travis asked. Percy made a face just as the IM timed out. "I'm going to take that as a yes."

"It's nice of him to warn us," Miranda Gardiner commented.

"It'd be nice to be here on time," Clarisse countered. She gave Annabeth an exasperated look, and received one in return. Annabeth had come to camp twice this spring from new home in California, and Percy's inability to get to camp from Manhattan had to be annoying.

"We have more important things to talk about," Chiron reminded them. "Clarisse?"

"We think Luke's trying to invade camp through the Labyrinth," Clarisse explained. "He's found several entrances, and we believe he knows of one here."

"Wait, like Daedalus's Labyrinth?" Lee asked.

"Yep." Clarisse confirmed.

"Isn't it unnavigable?" Miranda asked.

"Without help, yes. But if Luke finds Ariadne's string, he'll be able to navigate."

"He's been searching for it for a year now," Annabeth added. "Maybe longer."

"I thought he was busy with the whole kidnap Artemis thing?" Connor asked.

"He has other demigods helping him," Clarisse answered.

"So what do we do?" Miranda asked.

"Search for the string," Connor offered.

"No," Annabeth replied. "We have no leads, no idea where it may be. What we need to find is the Labyrinth entrance."

"Camp's big," Silena pointed out. "There's no way we can search the entire area."

"We can start having more games," Lee suggested. "Everything weird that's ever been found in the forest was found in a game."

"How about we buy a bunch of large scorpions, tie a prize to one of there backs, and let them go and try to chase them?" Travis suggested.

"That." Miranda replied. "Is a horrible idea. Do you even process the words that come out of your mouth?"

"The game idea's smart," Annabeth added. "We just need something besides scorpions."

"Giant bees." Connor suggested.

"Let's go back to scorpions," Miranda responded.

"I could probably work something up," Quintus suggested. He had been quiet for most of the meeting, and was so out of sight Clarisse doubted Percy saw him in the IM.

"Good," Chiron replied. "In the meantime, keep your eyes open."

* * *

"So he did end up blowing his school up," Clarisse summarized. Annabeth replied with a groan.

Clarisse had been watching a chariot race - Athena vs Demeter - with Katie Gardner, who had just recently gotten back from school in Iowa. She always had interesting stories, despite living in the middle of nowhere. They had been talking about a type of grain monster when Annabeth had arrived with a certain type of annoyance that meant Percy Jackson was back.

"I don't think there's a single school Percy's stepped into that he hasn't caused problems for," Annabeth replied. "But that's beside the point."

"It's what sounded like it to me. Unless you're talking about the mortal girl."

"Percy said she could see through the Mist," Annabeth said.

"So could my mom. What's the deal?"

"Ariadne's mortal. Or was. So for her to appear now is odd."

"She's probably connected. But that's not necessarily bad."

"She's untrained."

"I was untrained the first time I fought a monster. Jackson consistently acts like he's completely untrained."

"But you're demigods. You have certain instincts."

"Sounds to me like you're just coming up with excuses. Perhaps this is the type of Beauregard would be better at."

"That's not the problem at all."

"Sure. Just keep your head in the game."

* * *

"I can't believe Chiron went with scorpions," Lee muttered as he and Clarisse watched the giant scorpion. Jackson had already been back for a day, so Quintus had gone ahead with the war games.

"Next meeting I'm duct taping the Stolls' mouths closed," Clarisse decided. She gripped her spear tighter. "Do you have a clear shot?"

"No. It's completely armored."

"Great. Can you distract it?"

"Sure."

* * *

"You see, if you're unlucky enough," Lee explained as he wiped monster goo off his shirt, "You have to get lucky." He leaned down, picked the silk package up, and unwrapped it.

The laurels fell out.

"So the key to a successful fight is getting stomped on?" Clarisse questioned.

"I wasn't stomped on. I was landed on."

"Whatever. Let's just get this back to Chiron."

* * *

"So what, we're all just going to sit here and wait for them to show up?" Connor asked. Most of the campers had gone on, but the counselors had stayed and were now waiting for the last pair.

"We should look for them," Silena suggested. "Percy has a strong scent - they might have been overwhelmed."

"It's Annabeth," Travis replied. "I honestly don't think she can get overwhelmed."

"And Percy's very resourceful," Katie added. "They'll be fine."

"I'd rather look for them," Clarisse said. "Just so that I'd be doing something."

"I agree," Quintus said. "Let's go find them."

* * *

Clarisse went to bed that night shook.

They had found it. The entrance to the Labyrinth. Here. At camp.

There was an invasion coming. And they needed to prepare.


End file.
